Event Highlights

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Wednesday prohibited all campaigning in the nine Lok Sabha seats set to go to polls in West Bengal on May 19. The prohibition comes into effect from 10 pm on Thursday.

A day after the Trinamool Congress and BJP workers clashed in West Bengal, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee organised a roadshow in Kolkata to protest against the violence and vandalism during Amit Shah's roadshow in the state capital.

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May 15, 2019 11:00 pm (IST)

A day after the violence on the streets of Kolkata during a roadshow by BJP president Amit Shah, the BJP's Chhattisgarh unit took out a 'peace march' in Raipur to protest against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Large number of BJP leaders and workers, wearing black bands, took part in the peace rally commenced from the party's capital office 'Ekatma Parisar' and culminated at the Town Hall.

May 15, 2019 10:53 pm (IST)

The poll panel has ordered Twitter India to remove all the tweets related to Lok Sabha elections exit polls. Any exit poll, opinion poll or political survey is not allowed when the Model Code of Conduct is in place.

May 15, 2019 10:42 pm (IST)

Amid heat over violence at Amit Shah's rally, Mamata Banerjee will be holding public meetings in Mathurapur, and Diamond Harbour starting from 1 pm. She will also embark on 'padyatras' in Behala and Kolkata.

May 15, 2019 10:39 pm (IST)

A group is said to have attempted to hurl a slipper at Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan during his rally. They were, however, stopped and detained by by the police.

Stating that Vidyasagar belongs to the entire nation, the social reformer's great-grandson, Dr Pratip Banerji, said adequate measures should be taken against culprits.

May 15, 2019 9:42 pm (IST)

West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, who is also the chancellor of Calcutta University, says, "I am greatly pained at the vandalising of Vidyasagar's statue. The real culprit for breaking the statue must be traced out and suitably punished. Efforts should also be made by Calcutta University at the earliest to install a new statue at the same place." Meanwhile, a BJP delegation has approached the governor in Raj Bhavan over the matter.

May 15, 2019 9:39 pm (IST)

Mamata says, "I had communicated with the government in the morning to assist the poll process...yet you never bothered to consult the state government."

May 15, 2019 9:31 pm (IST)

Mamata Banerjee at the press conference further says, "The EC has rewarded the rioters for vandalising the bust of Vidyasagar...the people will respond."

May 15, 2019 9:27 pm (IST)

Congress's Ahmed Patel has also hit out at Election Commission decision saying, "If (the) situation in Bengal is so severe that campaigning must be stopped, why is EC waiting until tomorrow? Is it because PM has scheduled rallies tomorrow?"

If situation in Bengal is so severe that campaigning must be stopped, why is EC waiting until tomorrow? Is it because PM has scheduled rallies tomorrow?

Mamata Banerjee raises another question the EC's decision to ban all campaign from 10 PM tomorrow. "EC has drafted poll schedule according to the campaign schedule of Modi," she says. Many people have also raised over the decision since most bans are brought into force at 5 PM. Modi will be addressing a rally in Dum Dum at 6.10 pm tomorrow.

May 15, 2019 9:14 pm (IST)

Hitting out at the poll panel for taking action against Rajeev Kumar and Atri Bhattacharya Mamata Banerjee says, "IPS, IAS officers are under the state government but how can they interfere like this."

May 15, 2019 9:11 pm (IST)

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This is Amit Shah and Modi's Election Commission, Says Mamata Banerjee | This is Modi's and Amit Shah's election. During this time, the EC has kept state forces in the dark. The BJP is trying to spread panic. Action should be taken against Amit Shah and the goons implicated in the incident. But none of that has been done. Because Amit Shah threatened the EC in a press conference, they have taken this step."

May 15, 2019 8:39 pm (IST)

Claiming that BJP is "afraid" of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said that the combine would "wipe out" the saffron party completely in the Lok Sabha election's last phase of polling to be held on May 19.

May 15, 2019 8:17 pm (IST)

NCP chief Sharad Pawar has predicted a 13-day Vajpayee regime-like fate for the BJP if it tries to form the next government after the Lok Sabha poll results are announced on May 23. Pawar also said he does not think the BJP will be able to prove majority in Lok Sabha even if invited to form the new government.

May 15, 2019 8:01 pm (IST)

The EC has removed IAS officer Atri Bhattacharya from the post of Home Secretary from "having interfered in the process of conducting the election". It also directed IPS officer Rajeev Kumar to report to Ministry of Home Affairs.

May 15, 2019 7:46 pm (IST)

EC Bans Campaigns in WB's 9 Constituencies Ahead of Phase 7 | The Election Commission has curtailed campaigning a day after violence during Amit Shah's roadshow. Invoking Article 324 for the first-time ever, the poll panel put a ban on all election-related gatherings in Dumdum, Barasat, Basirghat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Habour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar which will see polling on May 19. Campaigning will be curtailed from 10 PM tomorrow till voting concludes on Sunday.

May 15, 2019 7:25 pm (IST)

BJP Seeks Report into Kolkata Violence in Memorandum to Venkaiah Naidu | Following a meeting with Vice President Venkaiah Naidu​, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar confirms that the party submitted a memorandum and demanded a report over the violence and arson on Tuesday during Amit Shah's roadshow. Referring to Shah, Javadekar says, "Protection of Rajya Sabha members is the responsibility of the house and Chairman."

May 15, 2019 6:47 pm (IST)

Lot of Pressure on Police, Bureaucracy Here, Says PM Modi | Addressing a rally in West Bengal's Diamond Harbour, PM Modi says, "There is a lot of pressure on bureaucracy and police here. An example of this is the suicide of a former IPS officer. I'm making a serious allegations, the person who spent his whole life protecting the common man of West Bengal was forced to end his life."

May 15, 2019 6:41 pm (IST)

EC Acts on Punjab Cong's Plaint Against Sunny Deol | Acting on Punjab Congress's plaint against Fb page in support of Sunny Deol, the Election Commission issued directions to add Rs 1.74 lakh to the election expenditure of the Bollywood actor and BJP candidate from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat. This came after Deol failed to respond to its query on a Facebook page being run in his support. Punjab Congress had complained that the Facebook page, 'Fans of Sunny Deol', was being run without any prior permission of poll watchdog.

Hitting out at Congress for promising to abolish sedition law in its poll manifesto, Union minister Rajnath Singh vows to strengthen it. In a poll rally at BLJ Ground in Mirzapur in favour of Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel, he says "Congress talks about abolishing sedition law but on coming back to power, the BJP will make it so stringent that no one would dare to act against it."

May 15, 2019 6:27 pm (IST)

Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a rally says, Without 'Made in Ludhiana', India cannot challenge 'Made in China'.

May 15, 2019 6:26 pm (IST)

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said Congress veteran M Mallikarjun Kharge should have allowed to lead the state as a CM a long time ago. He added that "injustice" was done to the Kharge. In return, BJP state unit chief B S Yeddyurappa asked Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) to immediately vacate the post for Kharge. Kharge, a nine-time MLA and two-term Lok Sabha member, who has never tasted electoral defeat, termed Kumaraswamy's remarks as "election-time statement."

May 15, 2019 6:21 pm (IST)

Keeping up his attack on TMC and Mamata Banerjee, PM Narendra Modi said "You have looted peoples' money in the chit fund scam and when they sought explanations you abused them... Democracy has given you the chief minister's chair and you are killing it. The entire country is watching your misdeeds....Didi should not be kept in power. In the last four to five years she has shown her colours". Holding Banerjee responsible for destroying the state's culture of 'Bhadra Lok', he said that the people of Bengal have made up their mind to end the Banerjee's "despotic rule".

May 15, 2019 6:16 pm (IST)

BJP Responds to Haasan | Over Kamal Haasan's "free India's first extremist was a Hindu" remark, BJP has said it was not a subject to be spoken on at a public meeting and asked who emboldened him to rake up Gandhi's killing years after it happened. The party's state unit president Tamilisai Soundararajan took a swipe apparently at the Congress for supporting Haasan, saying that those who lost their leader to extremism were now backing the actor on his controversial statement.

May 15, 2019 6:11 pm (IST)

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury tweets condemning both BJP and TMC for their 'attempts at communal polarisation' in West Bengal.

Empty vessels make the most noise. Attempts at communal polarisation by the TMC and BJP insult the people of Bengal who have always stood for social harmony and pluralism. The Left Front is working with the people to defeat these forces. #Vote4Lefthttps://t.co/SOBtjHCBca

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holds a march from Beliaghata to Shyambazar in Kolkata. Particiipants in the rally have worn T-shirts with Vidyasagar's image on them.

May 15, 2019 6:06 pm (IST)

PM Modi Attacks Mamata Banerjee at Taki rally | In another attack to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Taki on the Indo-Bangla border in North 24 Parganas district says, "Didi's (Mamata) goons carrying guns and bombs are bent upon destruction ... Her government is out to destroy everything in the state. People's conviction and courage will evict the tortorous rule." He adds, "Didi is frightened by the rise of BJP in West Bengal. The people of the state had given respect to her by making her the chief minister. But power-drunk Mamata Banerjee is throttling democracy".

May 15, 2019 5:49 pm (IST)

On his remarks on Nathuram Godse, Kamal Haasan says , "What I spoke in Aravakurichi is historic truth." The actor-turned-politician clarifies that he did not use the term 'terrorist' while talking about Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi.

The BJP delegation at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on Wednesday.

the Election Commission is set to meet later today to take a call on the issue.

Meanwhile, covering three states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today campaign in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal for the seventh and final phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. He will begin his rally in Bihar’s Paliganj, then move to Deoghar in Jharkhand. In West Bengal, he will hold two rallies in Basirhat and Diamond Harbour.

Congress general secretary and eastern UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is scheduled to campaign and hold a roadshow in Varanasi, PM Modi’s constituency.

A day after the Supreme Court exonerated her, BJP youth worker Priyanka Sharma will be released today as the legal proceedings conclude.